Swinging for the fences

NHL stars swing for the fences to net playoff goals

For the third time in two nights, a hockey player swung for the fences and connected for a goal. This time, it was forward Phil Kessel who batted the puck into the net to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 1-0 lead against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first period of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.

In St. Louis, where fans are used to watching Matt Holliday or Brandon Moss hit home runs for the Cardinals, they saw Troy Brouwer use some nifty hand-eye coordination to give the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 lead against the San Jose Sharks in the first period in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final on Monday.

As if that wasn't enough baseball-type action for one hockey game, Joel Ward followed up Brouwer's goal with his own sweet swing to help the Sharks tie it up 2-2 in the second period. San Jose won the game, 6-3.